A Vote That Matters

National Cupcake Day brings out the new flavors: Ready for a peanut butter and jelly cupcake?

In honor of National Cupcake Day — which is Monday — Three Brothers Bakery is asking fans to vote for their favorite new specialty cupcake to add to the bakery's menu.

The choices are Margarita, Gingerbread, S'mores, Peanut Butter and Jelly, and Orange Dreamsicle.

From worst to first, here's our take based on a recent sampling. But you don't have to take our word for it. You can stop by Three Brothers Bakery through Monday to sample the options and cast a vote.

5. Orange Dreamsicle: "This takes like Pepto Bismol," one CultureMap staffer said after biting into it. I tend to agree. The frosting is way too sweet. It totally overwhelms the mild vanilla flavor of the cake.

4. Margarita: I was hoping this cupcake would have the sharp tang of good key lime pie, but instead the mild lime flavor mostly gets overwhelmed by sugary sweetness. It's another variation on the basic vanilla cupcake, so maybe that's the problem? Either way, not a winner.

Picking the bottom two was relatively easy, but it took us awhile to settle on the order for the Top 3. After some back and forth, we came to the following consensus.

3. PB&J: I was mostly outvoted here, because I liked the peanut butter flavor of the frosting. However, the rest of our judging panel thought the filling wasn't quite right, and that the flavors didn't mesh the way they would in an actual peanut butter and jelly sandwich.

2. Gingerbread: If it were closer to Christmas, this cupcake might have won. It tastes authentically like gingerbread with a good cinnamon flavor, although it lacks the spicy kick of other local bakeries.

1. S'mores: Maybe we were entranced by memories of summer night sitting around a campfire. Maybe the only chocolate cupcake in the group stood out. Either way, the marshmallow and graham cracker frosting really makes this cupcake.

After tasting all of the cupcakes, we concluded that, while they were all fairly tasty (except for dreamsicle), none of them quite match the fancy flavors at dedicated cupcake shops like Crave or Celebrity. However, Three Brothers still makes the best rye bread and hamentaschen in town.

If there's a contest before Purim to pick a new flavor of those, we're totally in.

From left to right: Margarita, PB&J, Orange Dreamsicle

Three Brothers Bakery cupcake tasting August 2013

Photo by Joel Luks

From left to right: Margarita, PB&J, Orange Dreamsicle

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HRW Offshoot Returns

Houston charity dining event returns with $25 dinners and $15 lunches

Photo by Jenn Duncan

Duck N Bao serves duck, dim sum, and more.

Saturday, February 15 marks the beginning of Eat Drink HTX, the more affordable sister event to Houston Restaurant Weeks, featuring special dining deals at casual restaurants.

More than 125 restaurants are participating in the event’s fourth year, with Houston establishments like Mala Sichuan Bistro, Molina’s Cantina, and El Pollo Loco peppering the list with multiple outposts.

Following the model of HRW, participating restaurants have crafted fixed-price menus — $15 for lunch or brunch and $25 for dinner — with each meal sold generating a donation of $1 or $3 for the Cleverley Stone Foundation, which in turn donates proceeds to the Houston Food Bank and Kids’ Meals.

With prices that are more accessible than HRW's $25 lunch menus and $39 or $55 dinner menus, Eat Drink HTX opens the door for casual restaurants, cafes, bakeries, and coffee shops to join in, with standouts including The Sylvie, Andes Cafe, Duck n Bao, and Traveler’s Cart.

Traveler's Cart food spread Get a $25, two-course dinner at Traveler's Cart. Photo by Jenn Duncan

“I am thrilled to announce Kids' Meals as a 2025 beneficiary of Eat Drink HTX,” Katie Stone, Cleverley Stone Foundation president, said in a statement. “Their dedication to ending childhood hunger by providing free, healthy meals to preschool-aged children is truly inspiring. As someone passionate about supporting children and families in our community, I am confident that their impact will continue to change lives and bring hope to those who need it most.”

What sets Eat Drink HTX apart from its larger fundraising event in August is the opportunity to take advantage of the dining deals to explore more than the traditional restaurants.

Home Run Dugout lets patrons imagine what it’s like to be Yordan Alvarez. The venue’s indoor batting cages and augmented reality immerse the player in a simulation of a stadium such as Daikin Park, with soft-pitch technology that enables anyone six and over to play. The Katy baseball destination’s full-service restaurant is offering a $15 lunch and $25 dinner during Eat Drink HTX. Diners can choose from options like birria quesadillas, chicken wings, and a crushed brisket blend double-patty burger.

For a more relaxing evening, catch the latest Captain America flick without having to worry about dinner at one of Star Cinema Grill’s eight Houston-area locations. The dine-in-theater is offering a $25 two-course dinner deal featuring popcorn, fried pickles, chicken and waffles, and a goat cheese and mushroom flatbread.

“Being part of Eat Drink HTX 2025 is an amazing opportunity to turn the joy of dining out into hope for hungry children,” said Beth Braniff Harp, CEO of Kids’ Meals. “Kids’ Meals is deeply thankful for the support from participating restaurants and diners, whose generosity will help us continue to feed preschoolers in Houston and build brighter futures.”

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